The Never Ending Water Cycle
Written and Designed
by
Soumy Ana
Muharram 1425 -- February 2004
Waqf Sunni Book
http://www.ummah.com/islam/taqwapalace
We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one.
- Jacques Cousteau
Innumerable as the stars of night,
Or stars of morning, dewdrops which the sun
Impearls on every leaf and every flower.
-John Milton
Once upon a day, a dewdrop was comfortably stretching on a leaf. She met the sun and struck a conversation with him. After a few minutes of pleasant conversation, she asked: ‘Where have you been, Sun, before now?’ ‘I have been around the world. Then this morning I asked the permission to Allaah to rise again, and one day I am told, I will rise, not from the East, but from he West!’ ‘Amazing! And what are you here for?’ ‘Oh! That’s a question that would require a lifetime to answer. Among other things, I make sure the Water Cycle is been provided.’ ‘What’s the Water Cycle, Sun?’ ‘You mean you do not know?’ ‘Nope’ ‘Where do you come from, Dew?’ She thinks deeply. ‘I am not sure but the last time I remember, I fell from the eyes of a little girl. I do not remember why she cried for, but she dropped me here no later than yesterday. I woke up in this charming bed.
AlHamdulillah, we drops of water, we can form well on any plantbecause we slide on plants like children slide on ice, and we staytogether. That’s our favorite place to be. ’‘And before that, you might have been so many different things.’‘Could I?’‘Yes. How old are you?’‘I thought I was born of today, in the green plush of this leaf, butyou made me remember the little girl…’The Sun laughs‘That’s as far as you can remember?’She thinks more and more and more… and spends many minutes,then an hour trying to stretch her memory, then she says:‘Memories are strange things. We think we have lost them becauseit is so nice to be caught up in the present moment, but when welook for them, they come back running at us one after the otheruntil we are so much caught up in them, we soon forget thepresent moment. Do you remember, Sun, the dinosaurs? Well, Iremember them clearly now, but they do not exist anymore…’‘That’s right. You are so old I can say you almost witnessed thebeginning of this world. However, you have taken so many forms,you might not remember them all. Water is the only thing in naturethat can be a gas, liquid, or solid. It is, so to speak, like the heart.The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“[The heart] changes more than a pot of rapidly boiling water.”
(Reported by Ahmad, 6/4; al-Haakim, 2/289; al-Silsilat al-Saheehah,1772).’‘I’d buy that one!’‘Interesting, uh? See how much you can change!The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) alsogave another example of the heart:
“The heart (qalb) takes its name from its constant changes (taqallub – alteration, variation, ups and downs). The likeness of the heart is that of a feather at the root of a tree, being turned over and over by the wind.”
(Reported by Ahmad, 4/408; Saheeh al-Jaami’, 2364).’
"H2O is hot water, and CO2 is cold water"
In 1854 the Great White Chief in Washington, President Franklin Pierce, made an offer for a large area of Indian land and promised a reservation, for the Indian People. This is the full text of Chief Seattle's reply to the offer.
“How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man. […] The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes, and feed our children. If we sell you our land you must remember and teach your children that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must from now on give the rivers the kindness you would give any brother.”
‘But… Tell me more about me, Sun.’‘Well... Let’s see… If I had been far away from the earth on myWinter annual travel, you might have frozen and be as crisp as atoast.’‘You think so?’‘Yes, I have seen it!’‘Then, Shukrulillaah for you are close today, so close we can talk.What else could I have been?’‘You could have been a snow flake and reflect light as a mirror.You could have had a beautiful dress made of delicateembroideries, very unique to you.’
‘Really? O, I cannot wait! When does Winter come?’ ‘Oh! Not yet little Dew. See how the heart is changing? You do not want it now. Winter will come soon enough, believe me, and you will maybe freeze.’ ‘Does it hurt?’ ‘Not the least! You will probably find it fun, but you will certainly get to one form to another overnight and you will not have time to enjoy the form you like most or admire your new dress for a long time before you become droplet again or are eaten by children or animals, or else… and, not only that, when water freezes inside clouds, up in the air, ice crystals form. It is because many of you crystals join together that snow flakes form. Once the flakes are heavy enough they fall to the ground as snow. However, snow can fall in different ways. Snow can drift to the ground lightly as flurries, fall heavily as a snowstorm, or pile up quickly blown by strong winds in a blizzard. Before you know it, you might be buried into many other flakes and not see the light of day for many weeks, even months depending where you fall! You might also become Graupel.’
‘What is gaupel, Sun?’ ‘It is snowflakes that have become small rounded pellets, usually two to five millimeters in diameter. It is sometimes mistaken for hail. Oh, and worse, you might become sleet!’ ‘What is sleet, Sun?’ ‘Sleet is a form of snow that begins to fall, but melts on its way down. It then re-freezes in the air and falls covering the ground with a wet slushy mess. Soon enough, you become mud or you can freeze there for the remainder of the winter without being able to move a wink of an eye…’
‘How bleak!’ ‘Some enjoy it… But you… I’d be surprised, seeing how much you like being here. But, to look at things on the bright side, even though snow is cold, it protects plants and small animals that live underground. Under the snow it is warmer than it is out in the cold blowing wind. After all, you might also find fun to dress in pink during the winter, what do I know.’
Paper Chain Snowflakes
Take a sheet of paper. Fold the paper in half, then in half again to make a square.
Using scissors, round the corners of the square making sure you leave part of
each edge intact.
Fold the circle in half, then in half again, then in half. The more folds the more
intricate the snowflake. The shape of the paper should look like a slice of cake.
Cut out small triangles, circles, lozenges, etc. on the edges.
Unfold the paper to reveal your paper chain snowflake.
‘Pink! We were told water is so translucent, prophet Suleiman (AS) invited Bilqis, the queen of Sheba into his palace, the floor of which was laid in glass and shimmering. Thinking it was water, as she stepped on the floor, she lifted her skirt slightly above her heels, for fear of wetting it. Solomon pointed out to her that it was made of solid glass. She reverted to Islam when she saw the power of Suleiman (AS) could only come from Allaah.
It was said to her: "Enter As-Sarh "(a glass surface with water underneath it) or a palace, but when she saw it, she thought it was a pool, and she (tucked up her clothes) uncovering her legs. Solomon said: "Verily, it is Sarh paved smooth with slab of glass." She said: 'My Lord! Verily, I have wronged myself and I submit (in Islam), together with Solomon, to Allah, the Lord of the Alamin (mankind, jinns, and all that exists)." (Surah 27: 38-441)’ ‘Yes! Many people think of snow as white and pure, but it isn’t always white and is rarely pure. During the 1930’s when many houses were heated by coal, snow was often gray. The coal dust was blown up into the snow clouds, discoloring the snow. Also in some parts of the country where the soil is red, the red dust blown into the clouds cause the snow to be pink. Snow is not always the same size either. In Montana, in 1887, the largest snowflakes on record fell to the earth. Each snowflake was fifteen inches in diameter! By the way, do you know that water becomes bigger when it freezes? I bet you might find interesting that when you become snowflake, you look like a tree branch with six sides. If you live in Stampede Pass in the state of Washington, you will see so many dresses among snowflakes, your head will spin. Each year this town has an average snowfall of 430". What a party of beautiful outfits, so much to see! Too bad one has to get close and use a magnifier! The Sun can but melt them every times he tries, so I just report what people are saying they have seen.
Something else, Dew. Ice is very powerful, even though you have to team with other drops. Think! The ice on Greenland approaches 2 miles in thickness in some places and is so heavy that land is compressed way below sea level. And in 1848, Niagara Falls stopped flowing for 30 hours because of an ice jam blocking the Niagara River. Do you know the Niagara Falls river?!’ ‘No!’ ‘It is a very powerful river indeed, but how much more powerful the ice, uh?’ ‘I remember a saying, Sun, that tells us that nothing is like what it seems.’ ‘I’d love to hear it, Dew.’ ‘The angels asked, "O God! Is there anything of Thy creation stronger than rocks?" God said, "Yes; iron is stronger than rocks, for it breaketh them." The angels said, "O Lord! Is there anything of Thy creation stronger than iron?" God said, "Yes; fire is stronger than iron, for it melteth it." And the angels said, O defender! Is there anything of Thy creation stronger than fire?" God said, "Yes; water overcometh fire; it killeth it and maketh it cold." Then the angels said, "O Lord! Is there anything of Thy creation stronger than water?" God said, "Yes; wind overcometh water: it agitateth it and putteth it in motion." They said, "O our cherisher! Is there anything in Thy creation stronger than wind?" God said, "Yes, the children of Adam, giving alms; that is, those who give with their right hands and conceal it from their left, they overcome all." ‘
‘How beautiful!’
‘Indeed. Well, after al this, I prefer to be a Dew for the moment’ ‘You know what? The fastest speed reached by a falling raindrop is 7 mph.’ ‘Not that fast, isn’t it, coming from high above?